Daddy's away Day 1

I had just laid down from comforting Wei, who didn't seem to be able to sleep for more than 5 minutes before she started pawing her face due to severe eczema, when I heard Kai's sliding door being opened. Then... plat, plat, plat! The sound of tiny bare feet slapping heavily on the floor. I sighed and mentally prepared myself for what was going to happen in less than half a minute. The sliding door to our room began to shake. This door does not glide on the rails as smoothly as the one to Kai's room, so it makes a lot more noise when a toddler is struggling (but determined) to get it open. "Whoom!" the door was open and tiny bare feet made their way to Bill's side of the bed. "Morning, babe," my throat was drier than I thought... probably because I only had 4 hours of on-and-off sleep. Disappointed, Kai said (much louder than I would've preferred), "I want my daddy."

"Daddy went to California, remember? Do you want to come up and snuggle a bit?" I patted the bed as an invitation.

"No!" invitation rejected. "I wanna go downstairs. Daddy... I mean, mommy, you have to take me downstairs and change my poo-poo diaper." Can't believe I had to take orders from a toddler at 7 in the morning, especially considering he had just called me by the wrong name.

After breakfast, we left Wei at home with my mom and were ready to head out to Wal Mart to get him a new pair of shoes. Kai insisted on wearing his shark boots even though it wasn't raining. As soon as we were out the door, he stood looking at the sky and said, "Mommy, the sun is not here. I know, the sun is at California... with daddy."

I don't know if it was because he knew I was the lone parent this weekend or maybe he was just delighted to spend some alone time with me. Kai was a sweetheart throughout the entire trip to the store. "Where did daddy go?" he asked the 6th time this morning. "Daddy is at a conference in California." "Daddy's at a con...friends?" he didn't quite understand. "A conference," Teacher Kate explained, "is a biiiiiig meeting where people talk about what they do. Daddy is at a conference to talk to people who make the games you play on the iPad." "After I get a new pair of shoes, I wanna go home and play with your padpad, mommy." Oh, the mind of a toddler. Who cares what a conference is when mommy mentions the iPad, eh?

At one point, he asked me to drive "weewy weewy fast", so I waited until we got to the big downhill near the store and took my door off the brakes. When we got the bottom of the hill, Kai said excitedly, "Geez. That was fast, mommy." Then he pointed out, "Mommy, I said 'geez.'"

In the store, Kai said hi to practically everyone who crossed paths with us, charming their pants off. At the check-out counter, he said hello to the lady behind us. The lady was a bit taken by surprise. She chuckled, "Hello. How are you?" KAi proudly replied, "My daddy is in conference in California to talk to his friends." The toddler WAS listening after all.

It was raining when we came out of the store. When I was strapping him in the car seat, Kai gloated, "It's raining, mommy. (singing) Rain is coming down. Split, splat, and splashhhhhh! I have my shark boots. It was a good idea."I think what he really meant was: I was the one that had the good idea to put on my boots 'cause I knew it was going to rain.

As soon as he got into the house, Kai couldn't wait to show off his loot. "Wai-puo! Wai-puo! Look at my new Diego go go go shoes." He also wanted to show her the new Lightning McQueen hand soap but couldn't find it. "I already put it away." I told him as I changed Wei's diaper. "I'm gonna go wash my hands, mommy." I was secretly pleased that the new hand soap motivated Kai to wash hands. I heard him drag his potty/stool in front of the sink and a big THOMP! He wailed in pain and walked out of the bathroom with blood dripping down his chin. He had slipped off the stool and hit his chin on the sink. After we rinsed his mouth with cold water, I saw the damage: He bit both sides of his tongue. The bleeding and crying stopped relatively quickly with an added bonus that Kai is an expert spitter now. Maybe he can start using toothpaste that contains Fluoride.

The rest of the day went very smoothly. When I tucked him in tonight, he asked for a hug. With his arms around me and face nestled between my shoulder and neck, Kai asked for the Nth time, "Where did daddy go?" I answered again. He asked, "We go to the airport to pick up daddy?" I explained it'll be late at night when daddy comes home on his return date but he will see him the next morning. "When I see daddy, I wanna wear my new Diego go go go shoes and I'll say to daddy: 'Daddy, check it out! My new Diego go go go shoes!'"